[Advaita-l] Shankara Digvijaya Sara - part 10

[Raghav Kumar Dwivedula]

Namaste
Thank you for your meticulous translations, Jaldhar ji.

On Tue, 28 Apr, 2020, 11:31 AM Jaldhar H. Vyas via Advaita-l, <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> It looks like the latest installment didn't make it to most list
> subscribers so I'm reposting.  Apologies if you see it twice.
>
> Also part 11 is proving to be complicated.  I'm going to work on for a
> little longer before posting it but hopefully still on Shankara Jayanti
> day as it is very apropos for that occasion I think
>


The use of the simile of monsoon flashes of lightning for the (vedantic)
yogis striving for liberation and the autumnal sky with the sun shining
without obstruction as a simile for apratibandhaka or paripakva GYAnam,
reads so well.

I observed that in the shloka 57 below,  there is a mention of
samsAramuktyai samarcati, implying presumably, the stage where some Sadhana
is still being resorted to for liberation.  This would correlate with the
stage just immediately prior to the paripakva GYAnam -  which is synonymous
with liberation per se. And hence the flashes of understanding but unsteady
nevertheless.

Also the next shloka 58 employing the memorable autumn Sun simile, talks of
the paripakva GYAnam which is now sahaja and no more comparable to the the
yogis who get flashes of understanding but are not yet liberated.

Om
Raghav


>
> 57| haṁsabhāvamadhigamya sudhīndre taṁ samarcati ca saṁsṛtimuktyai |
> sañcacāla kathayanniva meghaḥ cañcalācapalatāṁ viṣayeṣu ||118||
>
> 57. Having attained the state of a [parama]haṁsa the most intelligent
> [i.e.
> Śaṅkara] engrossed himself in liberation from saṁsāra. Flashes of
> lightening
> amongst the storm clouds seemed to mirror flashes of insight.(118)
>
>
> 58| chātramukhyamamumāha kiyadbhiḥ vāsarairgataghane gagane saḥ |
> paśya saumya śaradā vimalaṁ khaṁ vidyayeva viśadaṁ paratattvam ||140||
>
> 58. After several days when the clouds cleared and the sky was bright,
> [Govindapāda said] “Look Dear One at the clear autumn sky. It is like the
> Paratattva [i.e. Brahman] which shines forth by knowledge .”(140)
>
> (The simile in these two ślokas is that of the monsoon season. During the
> monsoon the sky is dark from masses of black storm clouds which obscure
> the
> Sun itself.  Thus even though Brahman is self-illuminating, it is obscured
> by
> māyā.  Occasionally the stormy sky is illuminated by a flash of lightening
> which is as bright as the Sun for a few seconds but then disappears.  In
> the
> same way there are some Yogis who can catch a glimpse of Brahman.  But
> without
> a firm foundation of jñāna, they fall back into darkness again.  The
> autumn
> winds drive the clouds away and the Sun which was always there becomes
> visible
> once again.  So too, when a man has steady jñāna, the obscurities of māyā
> are
> dispelled and Brahman is clearly and permanently realized.
>
> During the monsoon, saṁnyāsis, even those who are parivrājakas or those
> who
> wander never staying in one place for more than three days, observe the
> chaturmāsa vrata where they settle down and bless the people with lectures
> etc.  Govindapāda is also saying that the chaturmāsa is over and
> Śaṅkarācharya
> is free to travel again.)
>
> 59| sa tvamuttamapumānasi kaścittattvavitpravara nānyasamānaḥ |
> tadyatasva niravadyanibandhaiḥ sadya eva jagaduddharaṇāya ||161||
>
> 59. “You are the best amongst men, the foremost amongst the wise, there is
> none to compare with you.  Therefore, you must prepare faultless
> commentaries
> for the uplift of the world.”(161)
>
> 60| gacca vatsa nagaraṁ śaśimauleḥ svacchadevataṭinīkamanīyam |
> tāvatā paramanugrahamādyā devatā tava kariṣyati tasmin ||162||
>
> 60. “Go my child to the city of Śaśimauli [i.e. Śiva] known for the pure
> Goddess who flows there [i.e.  Gangā].  There your activities will receive
> the
> utmost blessings of the First Amongst Gods [i.e. Śiva.]”(162)
>
> (The city of Śiva is Kāśi.)
>
> 61 prāpa tāpasavaraḥ sa hi kāśīṁ nīpakānanaparītasamīpām |
> āpagānikaṭahāṭakacañcadyūpapaṅktisamudañcitaśobhām ||165||
>
> 61. The best of tapasvis [i.e. Śaṅkara] reached Kāśi adjacent to the
> forest of
> Kadamba trees, whose river banks are decorated with lines of glittering
> sacrificial posts.(61)
>
> (On the other side of the Gangā from Kāśi is the forest called Ānandavana
> which is a holy tirtha in its' own right.  During a Vedic yajña, the
> sacrificial animals are tied to a yupa or post.)
>
> 62| so'vagāhya salilaṁ surasindhoḥ uttatāra śitikaṇṭhajaṭābhyaḥ |
> jāhnavīsalilavegahṛtastadyogapuṇyaparipūrṇa ivenduḥ ||170||
>
> 62. He bathed in the flowing water of the divine river that fell from the
> matted locks of Śitikaṇṭha [i.e. Śiva.].  He emerged looking like the Moon
> which was dislodged [from Śiva Bhagavāns hair] by the force of Jāhnavī’s
> [i.e.
> Gangā’s] fall and was blessed with fullness by that contact.(170)
>
> (Śiva Bhagavān wears the crescent moon as a hair ornament.  When He caught
> Gangā in His hair, the force of her flow gave the Moon an involuntary bath.
> Wanted or not, the Moon got the rewards of a dip in the Gangā and became
> the
> full moon because of it.  In this way, the already considerable stature of
> Śaṅkarācharya was enhanced even further by his bath in the Gangā.)
>
> 63| viśveśaścaraṇayugaṁ praṇamya bhaktyā haryādyaistridaśavaraiḥ
> samarcitasya |
> so'naiṣītprayatamanā jagatpavitre kṣetre'sāviha samayaṁ kiyantamāryaḥ
> ||172||
>
> 63. Bowing with faith at the feet of Lord Viśveśa who is worshipped by
> Hari
> [i.e. Viṣṇu Bhagavān], Indra and the other Devas, he dwelled in that
> world-purifying place for some time.(172)
>
> (Several of Śaṅkarācharya's stotras deal with Gangā, Kāśi or sacred places
> within it.)
>
> --
> Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
> _______________________________________________
> Archives: http://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/archives/advaita-l/
> http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.culture.religion.advaita
>
> To unsubscribe or change your options:
> https://lists.advaita-vedanta.org/cgi-bin/listinfo/advaita-l
>
> For assistance, contact:
> listmaster at advaita-vedanta.org
>